The Reformation

I have just finished reading quite a few chapters of a book called "The Great Controversy," by Ellen White. A few things struck me about the early reformers and the Spirit they manifested, and I thought it would be in order to write on a few of these before they slip away into blurred memory, lost until Yah brings them to the light in their time of use.

What is a reformer? For that matter, what is a protestant in general? If the answer to this question, in your mind, is "Someone who is not a Catholic" I am afraid you are in need of much more repair than I can provide in this work. "Protestant" these days is tossed around so generally, people look on anyone who says Christ is Lord and the Pope is not, as a protestant. But what do they protest? Are Anglicans, who hold to every last tenant of Rome save for Papal supremacy, protestants? Yes, by the standards of the world they are indeed, and this is a sad thing.

One striking fact is that the Reformers never ceased to reform. It has been noted, truly, that the people they left behind ceased to reform, to turn from the Roman lies and Pagan practices, and settled where they were, adopting a creed or doctrine. These people were not reformers. There have been in every time a people who have pervaded the ranks of Christianity, taking the name with no more justification than Judas did the title of "Apostle." These, after the "leader's" of the current Reformation are silenced by whatever means, be it death by God or man, stop where they were. And what was the cause of this? They looked to a man to lead them, and not the God who directed the man.

The Reformers, true Protestants, are not and have never been defined by their organizations, their names or, even to a degree, their doctrines of themselves. What makes one a Reformer, is the reform of self. When one ceases to, or never begins to reform themselves, bringing not only their teachings into harmony with the word but their own lives, they are a sad excuse for a reformer indeed, and they deserve the title no more than Judas did as he stole from the Apostle's moneybag.

It is not a protest of outter injustice that makes one a protestant, though this is the side the world sees most immediately. It is when a person protests the injustices in their own hearts, and as a natural result can nothing but protest the ones in the world around them, that a person is a true reformer. Jerome, it may be said, was not a true reformer until he recanted his recantation, and he settled firmly in what was truth - Not in word alone, but in heart.

It is, then, never a reformer that ceases to reform into greater truth. Those who look to the spirit of the Reformers as a great and powerful, fire-filled essence, need not look any further than their own bibles for the source of that spirit. The Reformers had no such spirit to speak of - They had the spirit of Christ, that same spirit that has actuated every one, in every age who has stood for the truth of Yah in face of the world. Elijah was truly a reformer, and why? Not because he reformed the world around him, he did nothing of the sort - Yah worked through Him, Elijah brought no fire down from anywhere in the sight of anyone. But what made Elijah a true reformer, and what makes anyone in any age a true protestant, is that he engaged in the work of reforming his state of old self, the state of natural sinfulness.

A reformation need not take a lifetime, nor years, nor hours nor minutes. Many when reading the works of Luther, of Wycliffe, of Huss, were converted immediately, and immediately began that path of reformation, though most likely to a lesser fame - but one no less appreciated and cherished in the records and memory of heaven. Likewise, any, when reading the true word of God, even had they never moved once in their lives before, but had been willing slaves to the emptiness of Sin, to the Roman power, (For sin is Satan's, and truly so is Rome) can be made into reformers in an instant. For, no reformer is a reformer in and of himself - should any think this they cease the work to which they were lead.

It is Christ who reforms, who reforms the man who puts himself into His capable hands, and the people, the churches, the lands around him. Christ alone can form man and earth, and Christ alone can reform the heart into something pure and untainted from sin, and through this vessel, reform the world around this vessel. For it is the spirit of Christ which every true reformer takes part of, that leads every word and action, every firm stance against the acts and teachings of Satan, no matter how well disguised or esteemed they may be.

We see those in the past who stood in front of councils of "great men," of emperors and, truly, men who were the representatives of Satan every whit as those we are discussing were of Christ. We see those who spoke without fear or qualm and laid down their lives for the word of God. And how can we fail to see then, in them, not a spirit of themselves but of Christ, who truly was the most powerful, famous, and effective reformer in all of creation's history?

Was it not Christ who stood alone in the midst of an entire nation of corrupt religious leaders, and denounced their sins before multitudes? Was it not Christ, who stood humbly, the supposed son of a carpenter, and spoke with simple wisdom that drove those who cherished sin to rage? Was it not Christ, that greatest of the reformers, that living example of protestantism, who shook the foundations of an entire religious system, nay, the entire world, by showing a humble spirit, and what the word of God so plainly stated?

And, then, if this same Christ who created the world is the example of the greatest of reformers, if this same Christ who is risen and is alive forevermore is the only who ever has or can cause reform in any being or body, how can we say that the reformation is a thing of past ages?

The Reformation did not die with the power of the Catholic church, nor did it begin with Wycliffe. The reformation has existed in every period of history, in those who seek the word of God, to conform themselves to it completely, and to bring the light of this word to those in darkness around them. It has existed every time the word has stood in opposition to the darkness that had been spread abroad, it has existed since the times of Noah and before - For truly, Christ is the Word, and Christ is the Reformation.

Need there truly be a single visible empire of darkness and corruption ruling over the earth, for a reformation to occur? Does the world around you speak to you of cleanness of spirit, of Christ and of love, of the truth by its example? Do you see in this world the traces of the Creator in the decrees of kings, of magistrates, of churches themselves? And if no, how can it be said that there is anything less than the need for, first the reformation of self, the bringing of one completely under Christ's healing power, to be reformed in an instant to purity of conscience; And after that has been completed, for it takes no more than an instant, the turning of the world surrounding back to Yah, protesting the things that are unjust in the world, and standing soley on the foundation of scripture?

The Father has always poured out His Spirit into those willing, and it is only by that Spirit any can be, truly, a reformer. It is either one pole or the other, one opposite or the other - You either have the Spirit of God, and when the time comes cannot help but "Cry aloud, spare not; show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins," or you do not have the Spirit, and you too need to undertake the reformation of self. If, then, you are still a slave to Egypt, to Rome, to the oppresive spirit of sin and Satan that they represent; I invite you to take the path that Christ took, and those since Him who have sought His word as the sole truth, His truth as the only authority. Protest the lordship of sin in your life, cast aside the yoke of iniquity laid upon you, let Christ stand as your liberator, let His power cause your reformation of self to triumph in an instant - And then, you will truly be a Reformer.

You cannot have the Spirit of Christ without the Spirit of Reformation. They are the same Spirit, and of the same Lord. Come, then, take part of the Savior, take part of His Spirit - Martyr yourself to sin and the flesh, and then stand, with Christ as your shield and protecter, and side with the Reformers that exist in this generation, as they have in all that have past and all that shall come. Fight the good fight, and fear not what man may do - For you will have Christ in you, the hope of glory. Worry not if you have talents of speech, if you have great wisdom in the world's eyes, if you are currently a pious individual, for "whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

"God never selected as a prophet either the high priest or any other great personage; but ordinarily He chose low and despised men, once even the shepherd Amos. In every age, the saints have had to reprove the great, kings, princes, priests, and wise men, at the peril of their lives. . . . I do not say that I am a prophet; but I say that they ought to fear precisely because I am alone and that they are many. I am sure of this, that the word of God is with me, and that it is not with them."- Martin Luther

May Yah bless, and I hope you too will, if you have not already, take a stand beside those who speak truth and truth alone, as the word of God teaches it: "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." (1 John 3:9)

This is the Reformation.